Mendes invites Menpora to pass Pioneer Youth Program and Village League

Jakarta – Minister of Towns and Disadvantaged Regional Development (Mendes PDT) Yandri Susanto held a meeting with Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora) Erick Thohir at the Kemenpora office, Jakarta. Both agreed to work together to make the village pioneer youth and national defense youth programs a success. Minister of Villages Yandri said that villages play an important role because of President Prabowo Subianto’s 6th Asta Cita, namely to build from the village and from below for economic equality and the eradication of poverty. According to him, this program can improve the programs of village pioneer youth through the Bangun Desa Bangun Indonesia Festival. “So this festival is currently ongoing and God willing, the participants will all be villages in Indonesia, and the champions will be announced on village day. So we are here to invite the Minister of Youth and Sports to attend the village day on January 15, 2026 in Boyolali, Central Java. So this Build a Village festival, one of the categories is village pioneer youth,” said Ya2dri told journalists. Scroll TO CONTINUE CONTENT Furthermore, Yandri said that the national defense youth program initiated by the Ministry of Youth and Sports is also very suitable and aligned with the Ministry of Villages PDT. This is because many of President Prabowo’s programs target villages such as red and white village cooperatives, free nutritious meals, village-owned enterprises, tourism villages and export villages that really need the participation of the youth in the villages. He believes that this program, in collaboration and cooperation between the Ministry of Villages PDT and the Ministry of Youth and Sports from various lines, will become a pillar program and in the end will be able to realize President Prabowo Subianto’s 6th Asta Aspiration, which is built from the village and from below. “Therefore, thank you again, our extraordinary Minister of Youth and Sports, I am sure that the Ministry of Villages and PDT will be greatly helped by this cooperation, especially because we want to move the economy of the villages to the youth. We want to say that village pioneer youth is the key word for future development,” said Yandri. Mendes and Menpora (special doc) Yandri also said in this meeting that village funds have been earmarked for the construction of a football field in the village. He said he currently runs a village league. “Mr. Erick, we also said that in many towns Village Funds were also created for football fields. So village funds were built for football fields, and we report that, God willing, the Village League is also one of the things we will mobilize at the village level, and with the Village League, God willing, the economy will also move,” the former Vice-Chairman of the MPR continued. Meanwhile, Menpora Erick Thohir said that his party has agreed to try to explore synergies with cross sectors in line with President Prabowo Subianto’s directive. He also welcomed the collaborative efforts of the two major programs. One thing that will be synergized is related to village leagues and also e-sports that will be carried out from this year, but from 2026-2029 it will be even bigger, not only in one province, but throughout Indonesia. “I very much welcome this program because we from the Ministry of Youth and Sports are also cleaning up the administration and also cleaning up the budget funding that we have so that it can be in line with existing capacities,” said Erick Thohir. “I am sure that with this collaboration we will have maximum impact or results, because villages are one of the most important parts of us that develop our youth in the future. Yes, I told the minister earlier that one of the things we are trying to target for the youth in the future is that we want to create youth that are strong,” said Erick. (zap/dhn)